Instrument separation and detail were breath taking

I let my player burn-in further without doing much analytical listening. At the 100 hour mark, Ifigured it would be a good time to do an A-B between my modded 8003 and my stock 7003. Now youknow that the 7003 is very similar to the 8003 and, for all intents and purposes, I couldn't tell theirsound apart. So I figured that the 7003 would be as good a reference for a stock 8003 as I could get. Ithen sat down and compared them over an hour of intensive listening. It was no contest. The modded8003 had more of everything. Highs were smoother and less "digital". Cymbal decay was superior.Instrument separation and detail were breathtaking. What used to be a splashy mess of brush overdrums on Diana Krall's "Cry Me A River" now actually sounded like brush over drums. Bass, oh thebass! Punchy and deep with lot of oomph. Less boomy and bloated than the "stock" 8003. Soundstagewas also wider and deeper. The one downside is that the vocals seem less forward - I and love forwardvocals. But this could just be a side effect of the increased soundstage.

$600+ is an awful lot to spend on the 8003, costing almost as much at the player itself. But for thosewho like the marantz house sound and just want to take their favourite cdp up a notch, I'd highlyrecommend your mods. I'll just give this warning to them though - you may have to question yourinvestment for about a 100 hours or so, but once the player finds its "voice", you'll be as pleased aspunch you did the mods.